• Tim Cook has said there was never any chance that Friends would make it to Apple TV+.
• The question was asked during the Q&A at Apple's shareholder meeting.
• He said that they love Friends, but that it's not what Apple TV+ is about.
Tim Cook has told Apple shareholders there was no chance that Friends would ever show up on Apple TV+.
As reported by The LA Times :
Apple TV+ never wanted "Friends."
At least that's what Chief Executive Tim Cook conveyed to shareholders Wednesday after one investor asked why the iPhone giant didn't buy the streaming rights to popular TV series "Friends" and its reunion special.
"We love 'Friends' but it's not what Apple TV+ is about," Cook said at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Cupertino. "Apple TV+ is about original programming. It doesn't feel right for Apple to just go out and take a rerun."
Apple TV+ is of course home to Jennifer Aniston, star of Friends and now lead in The Morning Show alongside Reese Witherspoon. Cook's comments do give us some interesting insight into the future of content on Apple TV+. Clearly, Apple remains really passionate about its own original programming and less focused on acquiring existing content. It was just announced that Tramell Tillman would be joining Apple TV+ original Severance directed by Ben Stiller, one of Apple's upcoming original shows.
Important question from shareholder: Why didn't @Apple get rights to #FriendsReunion? "It's not what Apple TV Plus is about. It's about original programming. It doesn't feel right for Apple to just go out and take a rerun." @tim_cook$AAPL — Abrar Al-Heeti (@alheeti_3) February 26, 2020 February 26, 2020
Also in the works is Apple TV+ original Shantaram , which has recently had its production delayed, and has only shot 2 out of 10 episodes. That show features Charlie Hunnam and is based on a novel by Gregory David Roberts in which a former bank robber with a drug addiction attempts to reinvent himself in Mumbai. The book has sold over 6 million copies.
